Venus of Dreams

Rating:
Summary: Complex and Unforgettable
Review: I first read this book 5 years ago and in that time have probably re-read it about 9 times.

This and the other books in the trilogy are very very well-written and I highly recommend them all to anyone who likes their fiction to be well-planned and well-rounded. Although people may not like me for it, I'm going to have to compare this trilogy to Star Trek in that the technology is very outlandish and barely even theoretically possible, but it does fit together rather well and makes a good story. And that's really all that matters. I will say for the politics and religion in the books, though, they're very realistic and it's very easy to find parallels in modern day society.

All in all, this book and the other two are very very good and I would highly recommend them to anyone who can appreciate a book filled with science, politics, religion and personal drama all rolled into one unforgettable series.

Rating:
Summary: Especially poignant given September 11
Review: I too read this book -- several years ago, now. Its description
of the Islamic Imams was perhaps the only introduction to Islam
I had ever really had. Its treatment of the historical
uneasiness between the Islamic and Western worlds, even if done
in fiction, is especially poignant in a post September 11 world.

I too hope the sequal gets published.

Rating:
Summary: Especially poignant given September 11
Review: I too read this book -- several years ago, now. Its description
of the Islamic Imams was perhaps the only introduction to Islam
I had ever really had. Its treatment of the historical
uneasiness between the Islamic and Western worlds, even if done
in fiction, is especially poignant in a post September 11 world.

I too hope the sequal gets published.

Rating:
Summary: Complex worlds, societies & characters in a great story
Review: I've just finished my third reading of VENUS OF DREAMS. I suppose that the fact I've found a third reading exciting says something about the quality of Pamerla Sargent's writing (or maybe about the quality of my memory?). As a member of that tribe which looks for realistic science underlying SF storytelling, I was very satisfied with that aspect of Sargent's story. Her exploration of ideas of social organization are very well-fleshed and believeable, and her characters are richly detailed. I eagerly await the opportunity to read the other two volumes of the VENUS series, VENUS OF SHADOWS - now out-of-print, and the forthcoming CHILD OF VENUS.

It's sad that the first two volumes of her Venus series are out-of-print. One of the terrible legacies of the Reagan era is the tax law revisions that make it more worthwhile for publishers to let most titles go out of print after only one year. I despair of finding a copy of VENUS OF SHADOWS. I am, however, delighted to see that the final volume, CHILD OF VENUS, is scheduled for publication early next year. Hopefully, if sales of CHILD are as good as they should be, the publisher will reprint the entire series.

Rating:
Summary: Complex worlds, societies & characters in a great story
Review: I've just finished my third reading of VENUS OF DREAMS. I suppose that the fact I've found a third reading exciting says something about the quality of Pamerla Sargent's writing (or maybe about the quality of my memory?). As a member of that tribe which looks for realistic science underlying SF storytelling, I was very satisfied with that aspect of Sargent's story. Her exploration of ideas of social organization are very well-fleshed and believeable, and her characters are richly detailed. I eagerly await the opportunity to read the other two volumes of the VENUS series, VENUS OF SHADOWS - now out-of-print, and the forthcoming CHILD OF VENUS.

It's sad that the first two volumes of her Venus series are out-of-print. One of the terrible legacies of the Reagan era is the tax law revisions that make it more worthwhile for publishers to let most titles go out of print after only one year. I despair of finding a copy of VENUS OF SHADOWS. I am, however, delighted to see that the final volume, CHILD OF VENUS, is scheduled for publication early next year. Hopefully, if sales of CHILD are as good as they should be, the publisher will reprint the entire series.

Rating:
Summary: Good, solid, enjoyable sci fi
Review: I've settled Mars many times in my sci fi reading; it was a new adventure to settle Venus. "Venus of Dreams" is the Venusian analogue of Kim Stanley Robinson's "Red Mars" (which I also recommend): a realistic and entertaining story of what it might be like to make a new planet habitable for humans, including the science, the politics, and the individual human drama.

Iris Angharads is from the Plains Nomarchy in what used to be the United States. As a child, she dreams of working on the Venus Project instead of taking over the communal farm run by her mother. She and her significant others struggle with issues of ambition, family commitments, and what is worth sacrificing in order to attain your dream. ...

Rating:
Summary: Great Reading - You'll Really Enjoy!
Review: Venus of Dreams is the fascinating story of a young girl named Iris who dreams of transforming the planet Venus into a habitable paradise. Eventually Iris marries and leaves her family on Earth to live on one of the Habitats orbiting Venus. Iris is now working on the project to transform Venus. There are too many plots and substory lines to go into them all, but any reader will have a hard time putting the book down.

Rating:
Summary: Great book, Best sci-fi I've ever read
Review: What can I say? This is one of the best books I've ever read. I can't wait to find copies of its sequels. Get this one, you wont be sorry.